


Too Close

by Nevanna



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Age Difference, M/M, Manipulation, Power Imbalance, Sharing a Bed, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 02:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17634107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevanna/pseuds/Nevanna
Summary: Alex tries unsuccessfully to sleep beside Roger.





	Too Close

**Author's Note:**

> I started thinking of how the "forced to share a bed" trope would play out for my current favorite trash fire pairing, before (in my imagination) anything actually happened between them, and this was the result.

The rain starts just before nightfall. Alex settles the horses and sets up the tent as quickly as possible, watching from the corner of his eye as Roger surrounds their campsite with wards.

As he removes his outer layers of clothing, and settles onto the bedroll, Alex makes sure to face away from his knight-master. He and the other squires have seen each other wearing much less, during hot afternoons at the swimming hole; he hasn’t let himself think too hard about why these circumstances are different.

He’s almost certain that Roger falls asleep first. Surely the breath on Alex’s neck, the brush of a hand across his back, the warmth of a leg against his, must be accidental.

No matter how much he wishes that it were otherwise.

In the morning, they will ride the rest of the way to a stronghold that houses prized magical artifacts. In the morning, Alex will pretend that he never felt those touches, that they didn’t make him painfully hard, that he didn’t curl in on himself and try to think of anything except how easy it would be to shift closer and...

In the morning, he will tell himself that he imagined Roger’s fingers in his hair as he finally fell asleep.


End file.
